Scotty McCreery: from Average Teenager to Country Star

Scotty McCreery’s life has been a whirlwind since winning season 10 of American Idol. Before a recent show in Bay City, Michigan, Scotty talked with MLive about how being crowned an Idol by fans has changed his life .

“I went from being an average teenager working at a grocery store in the country, playing music every night and doing what I loved,” he said. “It’s been a huge blessing — I learned a lot of things last year about the industry and about myself. My life has changed, but I think the person I am pretty much stayed the same.”

Growing up in the small town of Garner, North Carolina helped shape Scotty into the young man he is now. His upbringing also helps him stay grounded now that he’s become a household name in the country music genre.

“I think it’s helped me out a lot as a person,” he said. “I grew up with a good family, a good church and good morals, and I can’t say enough about how great and supportive my hometown has been. It’s been fun to tour around the country, but I’ll try to take a few days off between shows sometimes to go back home.”

Scotty is currently on Brad Paisley’s Virtual Reality Tour. After graduating from high school in the spring, he has plans to continue his education this fall. He thinks he’s worked it out to where he’ll be able to continue balancing both music and his studies.

“I’m planning on continuing to work on my music, definitely,” he said. “I’m going to college (North Carolina State University) in the fall, and I scheduled my classes mostly for Monday and Wednesday so I can reserve Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday to do as many shows as I can in the fall. It’ll be different and I’ll have to get used to it, but I think it’ll work. We’ll see.”

Scotty will also release a Christmas album this fall — and he’s already hard at work on his second studio album.